U.S. Faces Tough Test in Round 1 of Pan-Ams

GM Alex Onischuk will helm board 1 for the U.S. team at the Pan-Am Team Championship.

By Mike Wilmering

The Pan-American Team Championship, a qualifying event for the 2013 World Team Championship, kicks off today at 1 p.m. Central (2 p.m. Eastern). The United States is one of just four teams that made the journey to Campinas, Brazil, a city with a population of 1 million that lies about 60 miles inland from Sao Paulo. This marks the first time the U.S. has participated in this event sicnce its inception in 1970.

This will be a double round-robin tournament, and the U.S. will face Cuba, the highest-rated team, in round 1.

Two of the country’s strongest players will not be present, however, with GM Hikaru Nakamura previously committed to the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, and GM Gata Kamsky playing at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival. The U.S. team consists of:

• GM Alex Onischuk (age 37): 2660
• GM Varuzhan Akobian (age 29): 2622
• GM Alex Lenderman (age 23): 2619
• GM Ray Robson (age 18): 2615
• GM Sam Shankland (age 21): 2595

With an average age of 25, this team is one of the youngest ever fielded by the U.S. for an international competition. Other U.S. representatives at the event include:

• GM Yury Shulman – Coach
• IM John Donaldosn – Captain
• Tony Rich – Head of Delegation

The U.S. is second only to the Cuban delegation in average rating. The other teams participating are Brazil and Uruguay.

Find round-by-round pairings by clicking this link.

The official website for the event is: http://panamericanoequipes.blogspot.com/